


Never A Bad Thing

by amberlazuli



Category: Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Or well post-main story canon, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-03
Updated: 2019-12-03
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:28:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21656782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amberlazuli/pseuds/amberlazuli
Summary: Leon doesn’t know how to deal with loss.  Leon doesn’t have that experience.  Leon, until now, has always been victorious.And well, Raihan thinks as he bares his sharp teeth in a wry grin and slips into the other man’s room, maybe what Leon really needs right now is the comfort and guidance of a fellow loser.It can’t hurt, after all.
Relationships: Raihan/Leon
Comments: 19
Kudos: 352





	Never A Bad Thing

He doesn’t like feeling uncomfortable. 

It’s inevitable sometimes, of course, but life is much more enjoyable when he doesn’t have to doubt himself, and right now the only things running through his mind as he stares down at the room key in his hand are an ever-increasing list of uncertainties. 

Hop had basically shoved it at him that morning, telling him that Leon hadn’t come out of his room since getting back from the match yesterday, and if even his brother couldn’t get through to him…

Well, Raihan supposed he was probably the next best person to try, but that didn’t make him  _ happy  _ to admit it. 

Because the truth was, he had no idea how to deal with Leon after a loss. He’d always been the one on the losing end, after all, and over time it’s been possible to adapt to that kind of thing. 

And it’s not that he doesn’t want to win, because he  _ does,  _ and he knows damn well what the comments say on his social media posts, but the truth is...even if he  _ could _ run away to another region and become the champion there, what good would it do him? 

He’s got a purpose here, and he’s happy, but he knows what it’s like to feel as if he’s letting people down - like he’s not training hard enough or committing enough and that if he’d only do  _ this one thing  _ (what ‘this one thing’ was, of course, differed a thousand times over in the comments under any given selfie) he could beat Leon, but all of that seems rather insignificant now. 

Because Leon doesn’t know how to deal with that. Leon doesn’t have that experience. Leon, until now, has always been victorious. 

And well, Raihan thinks as he bares his sharp teeth in a wry grin and slips into the other man’s room, maybe what Leon  _ really _ needs right now is the comfort and guidance of a fellow loser. 

It can’t hurt, after all. 

-

It’s dark inside the suite, the blinds drawn and Leon’s normal battle outfit in a heap on the sofa, as if he’d angrily stripped it off the second he’d made it into the room and then promptly buried himself under the covers. 

That’s probably exactly what he did, in fact, and Raihan debates yanking open the blinds before realizing that a bit more delicacy might be required in this situation. 

Leon’s been through a lot in the past few days, after all - more than just losing, there was the fiasco with chairman Rose... _ex_ -chairman Rose, now...and that giant Pokémon that even Leon couldn’t take down. 

Hop had said that he’d passed out from the intensity of it all and yet was still up mere days later competing for the championship, so it’s not like he doesn’t deserve to rest, but right now there’s more important things to hash out first. 

“Wakey, wakey!” he says it in the most obnoxious sing-song tone, shaking Leon’s shoulder - or, what he assumes is Leon’s shoulder, since it’s hard to tell under all of that unruly hair - but he barely gets a grunt in return. 

And well, that’s certainly not going to fly. 

“Rotom, snap a few pics of sleeping beauty here, would’ja? I can think of a few fans who’d love to imagine themselves waking up to such a sight-“

“No,” Leon says, his voice rough with sleep. “Put that phone away, you-“

“Oho, so you  _ are  _ still alive! You had us all fooled, mate,” Raihan leans down, poking at the blankets and generally being as irritating as possible in the hopes of getting a bigger reaction. “Your brother sent me on a rescue mission, you know.”

“Hop did? How is he?"

And  _ there  _ it was, since even wallowing in self-pity apparently couldn’t keep Leon from being overly concerned about his brother - who, from what Raihan had seen, could certainly take care of himself. 

“He’s fine! Much better than you are, at any rate,” Raihan kicks his shoes off without preamble and sits on the side of the mattress, sighing as he sinks into it. 

Man, being Champion...even former Champion...sure afforded a person some luxuries, didn’t it?

“It’s been a lot to take in,” Leon mumbles into the pillow, turning so that he’s practically face-down against the sheets. 

“Yeah, well, moping isn’t gonna get you anywhere,” Raihan wrinkles his nose, thinking, before he unzips his jacket and makes a rather impressive toss to land it on the sofa beside Leon’s discarded clothing. “Shove over if you want to be cuddled.”

“Mmph,” is all Leon says, but he  _ does  _ move, and Raihan scrambles under the blankets to wrap around him. It’s easy, because Leon is  _ tiny,  _ but it’s times like these that Raihan appreciates their height difference. 

Leon rolls to face him, curling up against his chest as if they’ve done this a million times before - and they have, sort of, though Raihan would be a fool to think it had ever really  _ meant  _ anything aside from releasing tension after a match. 

Much as he might wish things were different, Leon had made it fairly clear he wasn’t looking for that, but now…

Well. No sense dwelling on  _ that _ at the moment. 

“Was it this hard? When you…” Leon stops, breathing out harshly in a way that tells Raihan without even needing to see his face that he’s annoyed at himself about something. “Sorry. That sounds way too conceited of me.”

“When I lost to you, you mean?” Raihan grins and rubs Leon’s back through his t-shirt. “Honestly, kids are resilient, y’know? Back then I never let it get to me and over the years it just became something I kinda expected. It’s not that I never  _ wanted  _ to kick your ass, because I did - still do - but there’s more to battling than just winning and losing, right?”

“Of course,” Leon sighs. “I’ve never really thought of myself as unbeatable, much as they touted me that way. It was a good way to advertise myself but in the back of my mind I always knew one day I’d lose, although...”

“You still never  _ expected  _ it to happen, yeah?” Raihan lets out a tiny hum, trying to keep his tone as soothing as possible. There’s a part of him that wants to gloat, just a little, but Leon needs reassurance right now. “Seriously, though, I think it’s way different when you’re an adult. That’s why I’m not worried about your little bro, because I know he’ll bounce back stronger than ever in no time at all. You, however…”

“Yeah. Me,” Leon’s voice is soft. “It’s more than that, though. You...even if you lose to me, or to anyone, you still have your title as a Gym Leader. What do I have now that I’m not the Champion?”

Raihan pauses before answering, because honestly, he hadn’t even really considered that. Leon’s got a point, and after falling from the highest honor in the region, there’s really no way to climb back up. It wouldn’t have the same effect, and Raihan knows that for Leon being C hampion wasn’t just a personal victory - it came with duties and obligations and sponsorships and practically having every facet of his life planned out for him. 

Being a Gym Leader was much more relaxing, since all he really  _ had  _ to do besides overseeing the vault was battle any challengers that made it through the rest of the gyms and then, once that was complete, participate in the tournament at the end of the year. 

Leon had been a showpiece, so much so that each one of his battles was advertised and planned and became this massive event. He couldn’t just have casual matches because  _ someone  _ would find out, and Raihan feels guilty that he hadn’t ever realized all of this before. 

“I think I’d always hoped there’d be something waiting for me after all of this was done,” Leon pulls away from him a little and Raihan lets out a little disappointed noise without meaning to. “I thought that the chairman...ex-chairman...that he liked me enough to offer me  _ some  _ kind of job even if it wasn’t anything to do with the Champion title. But now…”

“Oh. Yeah. He kind of almost destroyed the whole region, huh?” Raihan slings an arm over Leon’s waist to pull him in again, spooning up against his back. “I always felt he was kinda suspicious. He had his power plant basically operating under my stadium and he never told me shit about it, so I always worried about the whole place blowing sky-high at any given moment. I never really liked the way he treated you, either, but it wasn’t my place to say anything.”

“You’re right,” Leon doesn’t sound  _ bitter,  _ exactly, but his tone certainly isn’t happy. “I could handle it, I…”

“Leon. This is gonna be a personal question, but he never...made you do anything you didn’t want to, right? Or tried to...I dunno, blackmail you, or coerce you, or…” he stops, because he  _ really  _ doesn’t want to think about that, but Leon shakes his head. 

“No, nothing like that. It’s only the last little while that he’s started getting intense about the whole energy thing, and I was never afraid to stand up to him,” he sounds honest and Raihan’s willing to leave it there, but he holds him a little tighter anyway. 

At least, he’s willing to leave  _ that  _ topic there, but bringing it up has the unfortunate side-effect of making him remember the _other_ thing he’d told himself not five minutes ago to leave alone. 

But if he doesn’t ask now, he’ll regret it, even if the answer is never going to be what he wants. 

At least, that’s what he’ll tell himself. 

“So he...I’d always kinda assumed he was the reason you never wanted…more with me. Was I wrong?” he slips a hand under the hem of Leon’s shirt, seeking out more skin and breathing a sigh of relief when Leon allows him to. 

“I’m not sure I want to answer that,” Leon finally says, and Raihan makes a questioning noise in response. “The last thing I want right now is for you to be mad at me.”

“I won’t get mad,” Raihan promises, just letting his open palm rest against Leon’s flat stomach. “Maybe in the past I would’ve, but I don’t think I really understood all the pressure you were under for all this time.”

“Okay,” Leon pauses for a moment, like he’s collecting his thoughts, before beginning to speak. “I never really had...rules about relationships, but there was a point...I knew that he knew I was involved with someone and that’s around the time you started getting harassed more on social media. I never had any proof that the two were related, but it scared me off enough that it seemed like…”

“Huh,” Raihan, quite honestly, hadn’t been expecting that, but given what he now knew of Rose...well, he wouldn’t put anything past the man. Image was everything and while Raihan doesn’t think most people would  _ care  _ if Leon had a boyfriend, he could see it not fitting into the greater plan that the ex-chairman had been concocting. 

“I’m sorry that I never told you,” Leon sounds resigned enough that Raihan can tell he’s been beating himself up about this for a long time. “I should have…”

“I don’t blame you,” Raihan says softly. “I’m not gonna lie and say that I wasn’t hurt, but it’s enough to know that you did it for me.”

“I know you don’t care about any of that but I’ve learned that even with the most positive attitude things can still get to you,” Leon’s fingers slot over his, just feeling, and Raihan smiles against his shoulder. “Not that any of it matters now.”

“Nah, maybe that part doesn’t, but some things still do,” Raihan nuzzles his neck, breathing him in and contemplating his next words. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I think you should leave for a bit.”

“Huh?”

“Being here...everything’s just gonna remind you of what happened, and every person that sees you is gonna bring it up. It’s inevitable, y’know? I think what you need to clear your head is to go somewhere you can be anonymous,” he lets his eyes close and slides his hand a little lower. “Even if I  _ really  _ don’t wanna let you go right now.”

“Raihan,” he laughs, and it’s far from his usual boisterous reaction, but it sounds honest. “I’m not complaining.”

“Mm. Good,” Raihan nips playfully at his shoulder. “Think about it, though.”

“I mean, you’ve got a point,” Leon yawns. “I need to figure out what I’m doing with my life now and I really don’t think I can do that here. Maybe going to another region will give me some insight,” he contemplates, rolling over and looking at Raihan with wide eyes before tugging him down into a kiss. 

Raihan tries to keep himself under control, he  _ does,  _ but it’s been  _ so long  _ and Leon’s here in his arms and  _ not leaving  _ and it’s the hardest thing he’s ever done to pull away. 

“Wait,” he gasps, holding Leon at arm’s length. “Not...I don’t want this to be the reason we…”

“No. No, you’re right,” Leon’s blushing and it’s honestly adorable. “Ugh. Sorry. I really do need to get my head straight.”

“You will. Once you find something to be passionate about - and I know you will - nothing will be able to stop you,” Raihan brushes the other man’s hair back tenderly. “And I sure as hell want  _ this,  _ so either way, you’ve got something to come home to.”

And wow, that was  _ far  _ more sappy and heartfelt than he’d intended, but Leon looks reassured if anything. 

“We have time to make up for, but I guess it can wait a little longer,” Leon’s kiss is much more controlled this time, more of a promise of the future than an invitation to go further right now, but it was enough. 

“Yeah,” Raihan sits up and gropes for his phone. “But! You  _ do  _ kinda need to let people you’re not dead, mate, so smile!”

He yanks Leon in so that he’s squished against his side, even the close angle of the photo making it impossible not to see that they’re in bed together, but Leon doesn’t look put-off in the slightest. 

“Can I post it?” he figures it’s safer to ask, but Leon only shrugs. 

“I mean, it’s gotta come out, right?”

“Honestly, people already kinda suspect it since we’ve always been close. I think they’ll be happy for us,” he grins and uploads the pic before dropping his phone onto the bedside table again. 

Leon immediately latches onto him and Raihan pulls him up a bit, both of them seemingly desperate for more contact now. 

“Hey. I know you probably haven’t eaten since last night and that takeaway shit wouldn’t fill you up for this long, so take a look at the room service menu and pick whatever you want. My treat,” he adds, reluctantly leaving the bed to find said menu and dropping it on top of Leon’s lap. 

“Really? Thanks,” Leon’s staring at him and Raihan doesn’t hesitate to clamber back under the covers. “And thanks for. You know. Everything else.”

“Of course. You’re still my biggest rival, y’know. Can’t have you off your game,” he teases, not even surprised when Leon tackles him and then both of them are laughing and trying to steal kisses as they tangle up with both the sheets and each other. 

Things are changing, yes, and it’s inevitable, but…

But maybe not all change is  for the worse _ ,  _ and if Raihan has to be completely honest, he’s  _ really _ looking forward to everything the future might bring. 

And that?

That's never a bad thing.

**Author's Note:**

> I never thought I'd be writing a fic for Pokemon but then these two happened and I was powerless to resist. I may consider writing a sequel at some point but that would certainly have a higher rating and be dependent on if people enjoy this one! 
> 
> Please do let me know if you enjoyed, and if you want to find me on twitter, I'm at [_mikarashis](https://twitter.com/_mikarashis)!


End file.
